Wheel attachments are known in the prior art to provide several benefits to both users of the wheel attachments and operators of motor vehicles who are in visual contact with the users. Wheel attachments, such as reflectors, often reflect a motor vehicle's light and, as a result, make the user more visible to motor vehicle drivers. Moreover, this feature typically provides safety benefits to the users.
Reflectors are often used on bicycles but may also be used on motorcycles, wheelchairs, and other vehicles desired to have enhanced visibility. One problem often associated with wheel mounted reflectors is difficulty mounting the reflectors to the spokes of the wheel. Some reflectors are fastened to spokes via fasteners such as screws, nuts, bolts, and the like. Fasteners that come loose during normal riding conditions over time may result in the reflectors coming off and becoming lost. Other reflectors snap onto the spokes, making removal difficult and often resulting in damage to the reflectors and/or bending of the spokes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,483 to Sloot (“Sloot”) relates to a wheel spoke reflector typically having holes that accept and hold a wheel spoke. The holes generally secure the reflector to the spoke but may permit the reflector to freely slide up and down and rotate about the spoke. U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,101 to Brown (“Brown”) relates to an illuminated bicycle reflector typically having an arc shaped outer portion and an arc shaped inner portion. The outer and inner portions are generally fastened to each other on either side of the wheel spokes via screws, thereby securing the reflector to the spokes. U.S. Patent to Burison (Burison”) generally relates to a bicycle reflector having several reflective members. The reflective members may be attached to spokes of the wheel via bolts, nuts, and washers. Also, attaching reflective members using fasteners, such as bolts, nuts, and washers, can be relatively expensive and complex to operate when compared to other securing mechanisms.
Neither Sloot, Brown, nor Burison discloses a wheel accessory that is easily attached to and removed from a wheel. No reference discloses a wheel accessory that reduces damage to the wheel accessory and/or wheel upon installation or removal. Further, no reference discloses a wheel accessory that, in addition to being easily attached to and removed from a wheel, is adequately secured to the wheel. Additionally, neither of these references disclose a securing mechanism for attaching the wheel accessory to the wheel that is simple and inexpensive to use.
What is desired, therefore, is a wheel accessory having a simple and inexpensive mechanism for securely attaching the wheel accessory to the spokes of a wheel. Another desire is to have an accessory with indicia on at least one side of the accessory for advertising purposes. It is another desire to have an accessory with reflective characteristics on at least one side of the accessory for safety purposes.